Research Fellow in Transient Astrophysics

The School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton, together with Lancaster University and the University of Oxford, is seeking to appoint one Postdoctoral Research Associate at each institution as part of the five-year STFC Large Award "TRANSCEND". TRANSCEND is a collaboration between QUB/Lancaster/Oxford/Southampton that will use Vera Rubin/LSST transient data and the 4MOST Time-Domain Extragalactic Survey (TiDES) to address pressing questions in modern astrophysics: how stars explode and drive chemical enrichment, how supermassive black holes grow, and the true nature of Dark Energy. Each Postdoctoral Research Associate will lead one of the following areas:

• Host galaxies of transients (University of Southampton): derive host-galaxy properties from LSST+TiDES photometric and spectroscopic data, and use the unprecedented LSST+TiDES transient sample to study how transients correlate with their environments, and measure transient rates to uncover the physical origins of the deaths of stars.
• SNe Ia cosmology groundwork and citizen science (University of Oxford): use over 30,000 spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia and 150,000 host-galaxy redshifts to improve SNe Ia standardisation and lay the groundwork for using SNe to constrain Dark Energy and large-scale structure (e.g. via weak lensing and structure growth rate) and contribute to a citizen science project for transient classification.
• Simulations and selection effects (Lancaster University): lead the forward-modelling of the combined LSST+TiDES sample, and characterize its associated sample selection effects. This project will include building galaxy population catalogues validated against state-of-the-art cosmological simulations (e.g. Illustris-TNS). This simulation effort will be the foundation underpinning every rate, host-galaxy and cosmological result in TRANSCEND.

While each position will be associated with a TRANSCEND deliverable, all Postdoctoral Research Associate will have opportunities to follow-up interesting transients and be encouraged to pursue projects that maximise the science from TiDES.

All Postdoctoral Research Associates are full-time posts funded for 5 years from 1st April 2027. Applicants are encouraged to apply for more than one post and all three researchers will be expected to work closely, through regular collaboration visits, to maximise the overall scientific outcomes of TRANSCEND; please state your order of preference (topic and institution) in your application. Moreover, all Postdoctoral Research Associates will contribute part of their time to TiDES infrastructure work.

Qualifications:

A PhD (or near completion) in astrophysics, physics, cosmology or a related field; strong scientific programming skills (Python); research experience in time-domain astrophysics, supernovae, galaxy evolution, cosmology or survey science. Excellent communication and teamwork skills.

Application Requirements:

CV, publication list, and a 2-page research statement describing past research experience and its relevance to the TRANSCEND science goals. If applying to more than one post, state your order preference in the research statement.

Contact info: p.s.wiseman@soton.ac.uk, M.Sullivan@soton.ac.uk